“Well, God bless you for it.”
Ron Preston chuckled. “You won’t be blessing me when you get the bill. Be sure to sit down when you open the envelope.”
He refrained from saying, Worth every penny. Instead, he said, “Thanks. Talk to you later.”
Erin and Aiden were not the only ones waiting impatiently for Annalee to contact them again. By the time Aiden had told the immediate members of his family about the dramatic turn of events, everyone was anticipating the outcome. They didn’t have to wait long. At the end of the sixth day Aiden received an e-mail:
You’ve had plenty of time. Are the documents ready for me to sign? As we discussed? Annalee
Aiden was almost disappointed she hadn’t called. It would be fun to hear the shock in her voice as he told her the scam hadn’t worked. He e-mailed Ron Preston and asked for his recommended response. Ron e-mailed back that he should try the following:
They are not, Mrs. Zubac. Your marriage to Mustafa is the only legitimate marriage of record and it turns out I don’t need a divorce after all. Get lost and don’t bother me again.
Her e-mail and his response were forwarded to Ron, who, he assumed, would make sure the authorities got it, as well. After that, there was nothing for Aiden and Erin to do but attempt to get on with their lives. But Annalee had gotten the drop on him so many times, it was hard to relax. Nothing would be so welcome as word that she’d been apprehended.
He began to immediately regret not participating in that event.
“I’m worried about my sister,” Marcie told Ian. “There’s something wrong and she keeps denying it.”
“How can you be so sure there’s something wrong?” Ian asked.
“I can hear it in her voice. There’s a tension, a nervous laugh that Erin never had, and she used to call me every day, sometimes twice a day, and now I almost always have to call her. Something’s wrong.”
“You’re just being overly pregnant,” Ian said. “What could be wrong?”
“She went to Virgin River, fell in love, got engaged and is starting a whole new life, all in about two months. What if something is wrong between her and Aiden?”
Ian cradled her little sprite of a face in his hand, looked deep into those mischievous green eyes and asked, “If there is, what can you do about it?”
“I can be there for her,” she said. “If she’ll just talk to me, maybe I can help. I do know more about relationships than she gives me credit for. Erin’s kind of an oddball—she’s pretty old to be having her first serious relationship.”
Ian smiled and shook his head. “She’ll be home in a couple more weeks. We’re having a baby in three. This will keep. When she’s home and the little guy is out, you two can talk about it day and night.”
That was a very husband thing to say, Marcie thought. Were men wired to say things like just relax? But it wasn’t good enough for her—she was sure she’d heard something in her sister’s voice that indicated there was a problem. And even if Marcie couldn’t make it go away, she was damn sure going to know what it was.
She was thirty-five weeks pregnant, had just had a doctor’s appointment and everything was perfectly normal and on schedule. She’d be having her C-section at thirty-eight weeks—a couple of weeks before her due date. All was well. She could make a quick run up to Virgin River, spend one night with Erin, get the lay of the land and drive back in the morning. The doctor said no more trips, but not because a trip would throw her into labor or because anything was wrong—only because she was supposed to be near her doctor and hospital in case she went into labor early. If that happened, she could have her C-section early. It was very unlikely, he had said, but he wanted her to err on the side of caution.
Still, everything she read about first babies and labor said it usually lasted forever. Worst-case scenario—if she went into labor, she’d pull over and summon help, an ambulance or whatever.
After Ian left for work in the morning, she threw a few things into an overnight bag and wrote him a note.
Took a run up to Virgin River to see Erin. I’ll call and leave a message when I arrive safely—hope to be there by noon. I’ll talk to you tonight. Be back first thing tomorrow. Do NOT worry, I feel great. And I love you.
She had cell reception most of the way and after three hours on the road, feeling great, she checked her cell and had not missed any calls. When she talked to Ian later, he was going to be very cranky about this, but she wasn’t worried. He couldn’t stay mad at her. Besides, he’d grown accustomed to the fact that she did as she pleased. She smiled to herself. That was how she’d captured him, after all—doing as she pleased.
By the time she neared the cabin, she wasn’t feeling so great. Typical day for Marcie—late pregnancy was no picnic. For one thing she was small and her load was large; sometimes the pressure on her lower pelvis was wearing. She was probably a little dehydrated, though she’d had water with her the whole way. And hungry, though she’d had peanut butter crackers. She’d get a bite and maybe lie down for a while once she got to Erin’s. She’d made fantastic time, she was proud of that—it wasn’t quite noon.
Erin’s SUV was not at the cabin and neither was Aiden’s. They must be off on errands or something, but no problem for her. She’d eat something and rest. She opened the door and walked in; the blinds were all drawn and the place was a little dark. She closed the door behind her and went first to the new French doors, opening the blinds to the view. When she turned, she almost shrieked in surprise.
A blonde woman with a bruised and swollen face was pointing a small gun right at her. “Who are you?” the woman asked Marcie.
Marcie grabbed her chest in shock, then recovered herself. “I’m Marcie Buchanan and this is my cabin! Put that thing down before you hurt someone!”
The gun did not move. “Where are Erin and Aiden?” she asked.
“I don’t have any idea! I just got here! What the hell are you doing here? What do you want?”
“I’m waiting for Aiden. I need a little money,” she said.
Marcie opened her purse. “You can have whatever I’ve got. I must have fifty dollars, at least.”
The woman laughed and it contorted her face. Her lip was swollen and split, her eyes were black and her face appeared a little lopsided. “Really?” she said. “Fifty whole dollars?” She laughed again. “Well, little girl, if we multiply that by about a thousand, we’re talkin’.”
“Ohhh,” Marcie said, holding her middle. “I need water or something,” she said. “I’m not feeling at all right….”
“Help yourself. Then sit down and take a load off. You might come in handy.”
“I might be in labor,” Marcie said. “Which would be a very bad thing.”
“Not my problem.” She shrugged.
“I need to use the phone…”
“Not happening, chickie. Get your water and sit.”
“Oh, God,” she moaned.
The woman smiled evilly. “Not at this address, babe,” she said coldly.
Erin and Aiden spent a couple of hours in the morning riding their bikes along the Eel River in Fortuna, had an early lunch of seafood salad on the patio of a local restaurant and then went to Luke’s to spend a little of the afternoon. Erin was caught up in holding the baby and helping with his bath, when Aiden said he was going with Luke to drop Art at Netta’s house and run some errands. He promised to be back by five at the latest.
The baby was settled for his nap at around two when Shelby answered the phone and handed it to Erin. “Your brother-in-law?” she said by way of a question.
Erin grabbed it. “Ian? Is Marcie all right?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “She was worried about you and left me a note—she decided to drive to Virgin River to see you.”
“Worried about me? But why?”
“She heard something in your voice,” he said. “I can’t explain—but you know Marcie. She said she’d call when she got to Virgin River, but she hasn’t. She should have been there
by now, but there’s no answer at the cabin.”
“I’ll go over there right now and wait for her. The minute I see her, I’ll call.”
“I’m on my way up there now and when I get there, if she’s all right, I’m turning her over my knee.”
“Ian, call the highway patrol,” Erin said. “If she should be at the cabin by now and isn’t, have them watch for her car on the off chance she’s had car trouble along the way. Tell them the exact route she would’ve taken.”
“Will do. Call me when you get to the cabin.”
Erin hung up and turned a puzzled look at Shelby. She shook her head in confusion. “How weird. Apparently Marcie decided something is wrong with me. I told her everything is fine—but maybe I sounded a little stressed on the phone. Anyway, she decided she had to drive up here and see for herself. I’m going over to the cabin to wait for her.”
“Want me to go with?” Shelby asked.
“Take advantage of the baby’s nap and maybe get one of your own. I’ll see you later. Just tell Aiden I went home.”
When she pulled up to the cabin a little later, there sat Marcie’s car. “Well, thank heavens,” she said to herself. “The little scamp!” She walked in the door and spotted Marcie lying on the leather sofa. She stood right over her and said, “What the hell were you thinking?”
“Uh, Erin?” Marcie said. “We have ourselves a situation….” She tilted her head, indicating the other side of the room.
Erin turned to see a battered Annalee sitting in a chair on the far side of the room, well out of reach, with a small handgun resting leisurely in her lap. She gasped and jumped back in such surprise, she almost fell on top of her reclining sister. For a second she wasn’t sure what had shocked her most—the fact that Annalee was there, the condition of her face or the gun.
She righted herself. “What the hell is this, Annalee? What can you possibly hope to gain with this little show?”
“Money,” she said with a shrug. “Things have gone south on me, so I’ll need some money.”
“I didn’t see your car anywhere….”
“Parked behind the cabin, out of sight,” Annalee said. “Now, shall we just get down to business?”
“How much?” Erin said. “I’ll write you a check.”
“Right.” Annalee laughed. “It’ll have to be a little more liquid than that, I’m afraid. A cash transaction.”
“And you’re going to take hostages? Is that your plan?”
She laughed again and Erin actually winced at what that did to the appearance of her face. “Hell, no, that would only slow me down.”
“Well, if you hold a gun on my pregnant sister while I go after cash, that would qualify as taking a hostage. I can’t think of any other way you’re likely to accomplish it. Aren’t you in enough trouble?”
“Wait till you hear this,” Marcie said. “It’s actually pretty slick.” Erin frowned at Marcie. “But it is.”
“Lay it on me,” Erin said.
“We’re going to do it on the computer,” Annalee said. “A transfer of funds or a bank draft, whichever you’re capable of. Everyone banks online. I need fifty thousand transferred into my offshore bank and don’t worry, I’ll take it from there.”
Erin just shook her head. “You’re kidding.”
“Not even slightly. You want to handle that for me, or do we wait for Aiden?”
Erin thought for a moment. “I can do it,” she said. “It needs a phone call. Just to my investment account manager. She makes the transfer into my money management account, I can transfer it from there. Online.”
“If you screw this up and tip anyone off, we’re going to have trouble,” Annalee said.
“I won’t screw it up,” Erin promised. “Then you’ll go?”
“Absolutely. Why would I want to hang around here?”
“Where’s your partner? That Mujo guy?”
“Well, that’s the problem,” Annalee said. “When we figured they’d be looking for us, he split. Left me high and dry. Not the first time, and he always comes around when things cool down, but for right now, I can’t go anywhere without money. And as usual, he took what we had.” She smiled. “I’ll find him. I know just where to look.”
“He did that to your face, didn’t he?” Erin asked.
“Mujo has a bit of a temper, but then so do I. I guess I set him off.”
“Annalee,” Erin said, shaking her head. “Why in the world would you want him back? Can’t you manage to get just about any man you want?”
“No one is like us,” she said. “Me and Mujo. No one understands and no one is like us, that’s all. That’s how it is.”
Erin shook her head. “What a life,” she muttered. She walked slowly and carefully to the desk, precariously close to Annalee. She flipped open the laptop and logged on. Then she picked up the phone and placed a call. She cheerily greeted her account manager’s assistant, explained she was making a large down payment on a lake house in northern California and asked that fifty thousand be transferred into the checking account of her trust. When that was done, she looked up at Annalee. “Now what?”
“The account number and transit number are right there, on that pad by the computer, all ready for you.”
Erin took a deep breath and accomplished the rest. The whole operation took less than fifteen minutes, which was incredibly frightening. “Done,” she said.
“I’m going to have to verify that,” Annalee said. “Move away from the computer, please, and don’t do anything stupid. I’d rather not shoot anyone today, but you must know what my freedom means to me.”
“No problem. Verify away,” she said, moving back to sit beside Marcie. “Are you all right?” she asked her sister.
“Well, yes and no,” Marcie said. “I’m doing okay, but I’m having some serious contractions. They’re getting close and hard. The real deal. This means I’m supposed to call my doctor and meet him at the hospital. But at the moment…”
Erin jolted upright and shouted at Annalee. “Do you realize what’s happening here? That my sister is in labor and has to be in a hospital for a C-section? There’s no time to waste! There could be huge consequences if you delay us!”
Annalee looked up from the computer as if bored.
Marcie touched Erin’s arm. “We’ve been over all that. Not her problem, she says.”
“It’s by God going to be her problem if she ignores it! Hurry up over there!”
“It’s not recorded quite yet,” Annalee said calmly. “Take it easy.”
“Just check my transfer receipt,” Erin demanded. “Banks usually take twenty-four hours to register a deposit.”
“Well, you need to shop banks,” Annalee said lightly. “Mine takes twenty-four to make the funds available, but they record almost immediately.” She leaned back in the chair and idly played with her weapon. “It shouldn’t be too long.”
How could the woman be so calm in the face of her sister’s labor, knowing the situation was so dangerous for Marcie? But then, if she was truly sociopathic, nothing would affect her. It was eerie, watching her calm.
It seemed to Erin to take forever, and as she sat beside Marcie she could feel her large abdomen harden and relax a few times.
“Have you timed them?”
“Five minutes or so. Nothing to worry about yet. Maybe she’ll leave and we can carry on.” She took a breath. “Ian’s going to kill me.”
“Once you’re fine, he will. Can you concentrate on not having a baby? Something like self-hypnosis?”
“I don’t know,” Marcie said. “Up till today I’ve been concentrating on having him a little early….”
“Swell.”
There was a little ping! across the room. Annalee said, “Well, now.” She closed the laptop. “Nicely done.”
“Hate to see you rob us and run, but we understand.”
Annalee laughed. “You know, one of the things I admire most, especially from a woman under pressure, is a good sense of humor. B
ut gee, that went so well, I think we should wait for Aiden and do it again. Double your pleasure?”
“As far as I know, Aiden isn’t planning to come here,” Erin said. “He’s gone to Eureka with his brother and won’t be back at his brother’s house before dinnertime. I’m to go back over there later.”
“Let’s give him a little time to miss you,” she said.
Erin leaned forward. “Don’t take that chance, Annalee. If you wait till people start to worry about us, you might have waited too long. I gave you a nice little nest egg. Take off before you have a trail of cops on your behind.” As if on cue, the phone rang. And rang and rang and rang. When it went to voice mail, Erin said, “Really. Don’t press your luck. Or, if you need some more money, maybe I should just do it so you can leave…”
“Ordinarily I’d go for that idea, but typically there’s a break point where people start to wonder what’s up with the big withdrawals. In my experience, fifty thousand is on the high but safe side. Let’s give darling Aiden a little time. Besides…I wouldn’t mind seeing him just once more…”
“You do understand that if that was him trying to reach me, he’ll come, but not without help. Law-enforcement help. Annalee, be smart. You can shoot us or even drag us both out of here at gunpoint, but you’ll never get away. If you go now before anyone knows what’s going on, you might even make it.”
“It’s so nice of you to be concerned, but I think everything will work out fine. We’ll give him a little more time.”
Marcie winced and a little groan escaped her. This was escalating.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Erin said.
“Hold it.”
“I have to go now!”
“Wet yourself, see if I care. Can’t you stay focused?”
“How long do you propose to wait for Aiden? Because I need to get my sister medical attention!”
Annalee glanced at her watch. “Maybe a little while longer. Don’t worry—I’ll be out of your hair before long. If things go well, I’ll have enough money to stay out of your hair.”
But Erin was worried. She wasn’t sure who might come bursting in the door first—Ian or Aiden. Or maybe Aiden with law enforcement. If it got that complicated and messy, not only were people going to get shot or taken hostage for a getaway by a panicked Annalee, it might push Marcie too far into a danger zone for delivering the baby safely. As Erin understood Marcie’s situation, the danger was to Marcie and the baby.
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